Blog: Nearly Half of Americans Are Saving Virtually Nothing

By Jim Donovan: Nearly half of Americans are saving no more than 5% of their incomes, according to a new Bankrate.com report.

One in five (18%) are saving nothing at all, plus 28% who are saving something, but not more than 5%.

America’s best savers are the middle class. More than one-third (35%) of households with annual income between $50,000 and $74,999 are saving more than 10% of their incomes, a rate that outpaces even the highest-income households.

Those in the western U.S. are out-saving their counterparts elsewhere around the country; 31% of westerners are saving more than 10% of their incomes, compared with just 20% of southerners. The picture isn’t entirely rosy out west, however, because 19% of westerners aren’t saving anything. That’s worse than all other regions.

“This proves the old adage that what counts isn’t how much you make, but how much you have left over,” said Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate.com’s chief financial analyst.